Track-elevating mechanism



F. E. TROUTMAN.

TRACK ELEVATING MECHANISIVI.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, IQZO.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

mm1-Am PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. TEOUTMA'N, or BUTLER, PENNsYLvANIA, AssIeNoR To J. W;CEUIKSHANK ENGINEERING COMPANY, or PIT'TsEURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

TEACKELEVATIN'G MEoHANIsiu.

To all whom t may concern/.f

Be it known that I, FRANK ErTnoUrin-iN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of But1er,in the county of Butler and State ofPennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvementv inTrack-Elevating Mechanism; and l do hereby ,declare the following to bea full, clear, andexact description thereof. l

My invention relates to track elevating mechanism and moreparticularly'to 'track elevating mechanism adapted for use inkconnection with apparatus' for .charging glass furnace potssuch asdescribed and ,claimed in an application filed "by meiv on March 5,1919,* Serial No. 280,839, Letters ,Patent or the United StatesNo.,1,336,494.

That apparatus consists, generally stated in a suitable frame with abatch supply receptacle carried thereby, a verticalundu.- lating trackcn said iframe, a carriage on said track, and a tiltable ladle mountedonsaid carriage .vhereo'. ,said ladle.maiy ce broughtV into position toreceivethebatch from said receptacle v'advanced into the fur-- lnace,andflifted to avoid lstrikingthe edges Y or' the pot andthentiltedftodischargethe batch into said pot; f the -above apparatus;is used in. connection'with a'furnace.diere there are a number-.ofdiferentcharging openings, .and in practice theseopenings are` not oithe. same height but may vary slightly, rthe vtrack may'not be adaptedfor directing the ladle properlyl into all the openings, and it is theobject of my .present invention to provide meansI lor elevating thetrack so that a ladle will enter each opening without interference.

1n the. accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of myinvention`-shown in connection with the above apparatus, the furnacebeing'shown in section. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of theadjustabletrack section; and Fig. 3 is a cross section oia same.

lnV the drawing, the numeral 2 designates an electrically driven trolleyarranged to run on the underhung tracks l3 between the girders 4 of asuitable electric crane which spans the furnace room and arrangedk totravel on the tracks. This trolley is also adapted Ato run over thetracks 3 to the tracks 6 leading to the batch mixer or the storage bin(not shown) for chargingthe hopperS carried by the trolley 2,

The frame-work 9 is made of structural y Spcificat'oiiofiettersilartent. l'fillted 4, 1922. Application filed my 22, Y

1'920.- Vv,seriali in.Y 333,533.

Y steel vproperlybraced and v trussed vto give requisite strength.v

@Supported inthe frame-work 9 are'the tracks 10 and 11V parallel witheacliwother and arranged one above the other. `The track v11 is providedwith inclined portions and 13 and they track 1() with the inclinedportions l14- and'15 therebyproducing an undulating effect. Furthermore,the upper track 1 0 extends beyond'the track 11 for the purpose morefully' hereinafter set forth.r

. In the track 10 intermediate'the portions 14and 15 is the adjustableor elevatingsection 16 composed of two parallel rails 17 and 18 fittingdowny between the stationaryA Arms 21 A.arev

track members 19 and 20.- pivotally mounted` between the stationarytrack members 19 and 20 on the bolts 22l passing through said members,thefupper ends of said arms bearing .against thefad-` justable rails 17and 18. The lower endsof the arms 211 are pivotally connected by thebolts 23 to the 4.bar-S24. 1A lever-frame 2.5

is pivotally mountedon the bolts26fpassing throughV the stationarytrack-members* 19 ber28 of the lever-frameis.l of such height as topermit ofthe passage through said .80, and 20, the lower ends ofsaidleverbeng l pivotally vconnected bythe bolt 27thlever-frame of thecarriage 29 which wis adapted to travel onthe tracks 10 and'11, thevfront wheels 30 of said carriage traveling on the upper track 10,-andvthe rear i wheelsr31` traveling'on the lower track 11.

VThe rails-of vthe track'l'l are provided with rack-bars 32 andthepinions 33 mounted Aon the 'rear Wheels. of saidy carriage engage.v

said rack-bars-f-A suitable electric motor 34 is provided on thevcarriage for advancing and 4withdrawing the same, said motor beingconnectedup with the rear'aXle-to drive the pinions 33. l

Mounted on the carriage 29 is the housing 35said housing being s wiveledso as to be tree to turn. y

Within the housing 34 is a the ladle-shaft 36. A ladle 37 is carried atthe forward end of the shaft 36 and at the rear end of said shaft is thebevel-pinion 38 which engages the rack-segment 39 supported by thecarriage 29.

Idle-rollers 40 are carried by the housing 35 and said rollers engageopposite sides of the guide-rail 41 on the frame 9. ,"At the,"lfIn'apparatus forcharging 4glass fur-4 forward end of theguide railal is a suitable switch forv directing the housing `to the` right orleft according to which potis to be illed, but it has not been deemednecessary to illustrate `this in det-ail, as it lformsnoipart.

of the present invention.

VThe furnace 4.2is of the ordinary typev with the pots 43 arrangedtherein and with openings 44, one jacent pots.

When itis ydesired to charge ,-one'fof the opening for each- `twoadpots, thetrolley l2 is run onto the track 3 and bythe electric cranethe trolley is moved into position to charge the pots, Vas indicated inFig. 1..-In order to bring the 'ladle to the proper height to entertheopening of the furnace withoutl interference in this particular case,the adjustable 'track section 16 has been elevatediby moving tlieleveriframe 2.3' to the position indicated in Figs. l and 2L VBy vtheelevation of this adjustkabletraclrsection.1G, 'said track vvsectionengaging the-treads 'of the front wheels ot' the carriage, elevates theforward 'end of the carriage fand Ithereby elevates the ladle.

YBoth track-sections 16 are elevated atl'tlie same.` time by thevmovement of the leverframe, and the top member of theleverframe-isfelevatedto such. a height that the carriage is'able topass in under the same.

. W hen the ladle has been advanced into. the furnace andlswung'over.lthe pot, theA ladle is. tilted to vthe :position'indicated in dottedlines Fig. vl to deliverthe batch into the pot.; I y f 'i What `Iclaim'is:

nace pots, the ycombination. with a suitable frame, ofi a v.trackon.said frame, a carriage onsaid .-track, ia' ladle mounted on said,vcarriage, means for advancing and withdrawing said carriage, "a movabletrack# section, interposed in saidf-irst-named track and :meansffoiraising andflowering `said track-section. V i Y.

2. In lapparatus for 'charging glass furnace potsfthe combination fof vasuitable vframe, of a track onsaid frame, a carriage on said ltrackwheels von said carriage, a ladle-mounted on said carriage, means foradvancing and'. Awithdrawing said carriage,

first-named track, and means lfor raising 'andk lowering saidinemberssimultaneously.

4e. In apparatus l'or chargingvglass furnace pots, the'coin'binationwith `a suitable frame, of a track on said frame, a carriage onsaidtrack, a ladle mounted on said riage, a movable track-sectioncomprising parallel members, 4pivotally mountedarms I engaging saidmembers, bars connectingtsaid arms, and means Jfor moving said barssimultaneously whereby y'said track members are raised and lowered.

5. In apparatus for charging glass i'urnace pots, lthe combination witha suitable frame of a trackonrsaid frame, -a carriage on said track, aladle mounted on said carriage, a movable track-section comprisingparallel members interposed /in Vsaid .firstnamed track, elevatingmechanisnna leverframe, connections between saidlever-rame and saidelevating mechanism whereby said parallel members are raised and loweredsimultaneously, said lever-frame spanning said track above saidcarriage.

f6. lIn apparatus for charging glass y'faire` nace pots, the combination.with .a suitable.. Y.

frame, 'o'fatack kon said frame,a 'carriage kmounted on said track, a4Ltiltable .ladile'r f' mounted on said carriage,movable.'t'r-acksection kcomprising parallel members movable up and`down in -slOtsfOrmed in said track, elevating mechanism, an `operatinglever, and'connections betweenvv said elevating mechanism and said.Avoperating Elever whereby said members are raised and 'loweredsimultaneously.

I In testimony whereof, I, the said FRANK E. TnoU'rMAN, have Yhereuntoset my hand.

FRANK E. TROUTMAN `WVitnesses:V v i A. yJ.. GUMPP'ER, frLoUisiijV.SMITH. n

